Rebuilding historic U.S.-Mexico rail link

This part of the Desert Line, which runs between Campo and Plaster City, is called Goat Canyon Trestle. It is considered to be the tallest curved wooden trestle in the world. / photo courtesy of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System

This part of the Desert Line, which runs between Campo and Plaster City, is called Goat Canyon Trestle. It is considered to be the tallest curved wooden trestle in the world. / photo courtesy of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System

Advocates of cross-border freight train service are cautiously applauding moves by groups of U.S. and Mexican investors to rebuild two key rail links that connect Tijuana and Imperial County.

The projects are being formed separately, and it could be several years before any trains ferry product parts and finished goods from Tijuana’s maquiladora industry into the United States. But proponents said that taken together, the efforts could restore a significant link to the main U.S. rail system.

The rail service would allow exporters from Mexico to avoid northbound truck delays at the congested Otay Mesa commercial crossing, as well as the need to switch drivers at the international border.

Preliminary estimates show that the two companies embarking on the rehabilitation plans could spend upward of $120 million.

The current situation “is very inefficient, it’s expensive, it just takes away from the competitiveness of the region,” said Joe Da Rosa, president of Toyota Manufacturing de Baja California, which assembles Tacoma pickups at a plant outside Tecate and then sends them by truck to the United States. The rail lines would also be valuable for importing components from the U.S. into Tijuana for the maquiladoras or other businesses, he said.

Built in 1919 by sugar magnate John Spreckels, the track created a rail linkage from San Diego to the east, dipping into Mexico before re-entering the United States at Campo and finally reaching Plaster City in Imperial County. Fires, floods and collapsed bridges and tunnels led to closure of the 70-mile stretch between Campo and Plaster City, known as the Desert Line, in recent decades.

The last operator, Lakeside-based Carrizo Gorge Railway, was able to re-establish limited service in 2004. Those operations stopped in 2008 after the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System, which owns the Desert Line, raised concerns about its safety and demanded repairs that Carrizo Gorge could not afford.

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While economic difficulties, lawsuits by past investors and legal battles among Carrizo’s shareholders have stalled efforts to resume service on the Desert Line, groups on both sides of the border continue to see the rail link as offering much promise for the greater region.

“It is one of the emblematic projects that we’re promoting,” said David Moreno, director of the Tijuana Economic Development Council. “We are certain that if we start rebuilding the line, companies would increase their investments.”

Christina Luhn, director of the Mega-Region Initiative for the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp., said she is “guardedly optimistic” about the latest attempts to reopen the rail lines. “It’s not a done deal, but it’s the best news I’ve heard since I learned about the rail issues,” she added.

In Tijuana this month, directors of Baja California Railroad Inc. announced a plan to invest $20 million in rebuilding a section of the 44.4-mile line between Tijuana and Tecate.

Dimas Campos, owner of a group of gas stations in Tijuana and managing director of Baja California Railroad, said the sum would be used for “profound rehabilitation” of a 12.5-mile stretch of tracks between San Ysidro and El Florido in eastern Tijuana. The project is scheduled to start in May.